flexuose, grooved. Leaves very variable, 1–4 in. long, ½–1½ in. broad, broadly oblong or obovate to lanceolate, obtuse or acute, sessile with broad amplexicaul bases or petiolate with auricles at the base of the petioles, coriaceous; margins sinuate-dentate or serrate or deeply irregularly lobulate or pinnatifid, hoary or cobwebby on both surfaces or on the lower surface only. Corymbs terminal, usually lax. Heads few or many, ⅓–½ in. diam., campanulate; involucral bracts linear-oblong, acute or acuminate. Eays short, revolute. Achenes slender, grooved, silky or hispid.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 160; Kirk, Students' Fl. 342.
North Island: Usually on cliffs near the sea. Bay of Islands, Colenso; East Cape, Colenso; Napier, Bishop Williams! A. Hamilton! Cape Kidnappers, Colenso, Kirk! Waipawa, Petrie! Patangata, Tryon! November–January.
12. S. Hectori, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. v. (1873) 348; vi. t. 23.—An erect branching shrub 6–12 ft. high; branches stout, spreading, tomentose. Leaves crowded near the tips of the branches, 6–12 in. long, 2–4 in. broad, oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate or narrow oblong-ovate, acute, narrowed to the base, membranous, scaberulous above, thinly clothed with white cottony tomentum beneath, acutely toothed, pinnatifid or pinnate for a short distance at the very base; petiole very short. Corymbs large, lax, terminal, much branched, often 1ft. or more across; peduncles and pedicels clothed with short stiff glandular pubescence. Heads large, 1–2 in. diam., broadly campanulate; involucral bracts in 2 series, outer lanceolate, inner broader and oblong-lanceolate, acute; margins broad, membranous. Ray-florets 8–12; ligules broad, spreading, white. Disc-florets numerous. Achenes linear, grooved, glabrous. Pappus-hairs rigid, scabrid.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 344.
South Island: Nelson—Collingwood, Hector, Travers; between Takaka and Riwaka, Kirk; sources of the Takaka, Upper Motueka and its tributaries, T.F.C.; Upper Buller Valley, McGregor, Hector! Kirk! Westland—Valley of the Grey, Kirk. 250 to 3500 ft. December–February.
One of the finest species of the genus, well marked off from any other by a small portion of the very base of the leaf being pinnatifid or pinnate, all the remainder being dentate. The heads are sometimes as much as 2½ in. diam.
13. S. Kirkii, Hook. f. ex T. Kirk, Students' Fl. 344.—An erect perfectly smooth and glabrous branching shrub 6–12 ft. high; branches stout, brittle. Leaves very variable in size and shape, 2–5 in. long, ⅓–2 in. broad, lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate to oblong-ovate or rhomboid-ovate, acute or obtuse, entire or sinuate-dentate, rather fleshy, narrowed into a short slender petiole or cuneate at the base. Corymbs large, often much branched, 4–12 in. diam. or more; branches spreading; lower bracts foliaceous. Heads numerous, large, campanulate, 1½–2 in. diam.; involucral bracts in 2 series, linear-oblong, acute, margins membranous. Ray-florets few; ligules
